"Intellectual property of the bank": SBI once again refuses to disclose SOPs on sale, redemption of electoral bonds
State Bank of India has maintained its position and once again declined to share the standard operating procedures (SOPs) given to its branches for the sale and redemption of electoral bonds, reported The Times of India.
The bank justified the denial by saying the information sought was held by the bank in "commercial confidence', was the "intellectual property of the bank" and the internal guidelines were strictly meant for the dealing staff.
Anjali Bhardwaj, a transparency activist, filed an application on March 4 to request SOPs issued by SBI starting from April 2017. After the bank denied the information on March 30, she decided to appeal to the first appellate authority (FAA) of SBI. Feeling unsatisfied with the response received on May 17 from the FAA, Bhardwaj has now decided to appeal against the denial to the Central Information Commission (CIC).
In its May 17 order, the FAA said, «The information sought is held by the bank in its commercial confidence and hence cannot be provided. Further, the internal guidelines are strictly meant for the dealing staff and the information is also intellectual property of the bank, hence rightly denied under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act.»
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